


One Summer’s Day

by Personae



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: F/M, Gen, Had this idea for a while, Oneshot, angsty fluffy of growing up, epilogue musings, really loved writing this although took longer than i hoped, someone urged me to write this finally, then i forgot I had written it until now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 09:44:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21509053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Personae/pseuds/Personae
Summary: Chihiro never stopped waiting to meet Haku again after that fateful one summer’s day.Epilogue OneShot.
Relationships: Haku | Nigihayami Kohakunushi/Ogino Chihiro
Comments: 3
Kudos: 142





	One Summer’s Day

**Author's Note:**

> so it’s been a while since i posted anything, and im terribly sorry for that. been in a horrid writer’s slump of 3yrs now, and decided to finally start posting some fics i had written up and forgotten about.
> 
> this idea had been around for a while now, more so when someone urged me to finally write it.
> 
> thank you for encouraging me again. 💕
> 
> also listened to ‘One Summer’s Day’ waaaaaay too much for this one. 😭😭😭

**_“Can we ever meet again?”_**

Those were the last words she asked him that one summer’s day long ago.

Fifteen years have past since they parted.

Through the tunnels and back to reality, never looking back, waking from a nightmarish dream. Her parents couldn’t remember what Chihiro remembered vaguely. The bathhouse, her name stolen, the journey she uncool to save them all. The memories still resurfaced from time to time. Most of the time it’s a blur, amnesia, trauma, something to conceal the existence of the spirit world. Soon, she concluded it was a dream, akin to an Alice in Wonderland-like scheme—a child’s fantasy.

But Chihiro never could forget his words.

**_“Don’t ever look back.”_**

Part of her always took it literally because she couldn’t look back; for there was no going back. Chihiro had left behind a part of her she could no longer claim. Nor did she want to reclaim the old Chihiro.

Still she wanted to meet him again.

The dragon boy who had guided her out of the spirit world after saving him.

White and teal-blue colours always reminded her of him.

Even water did.

Each summer Chihiro would look to the night sky for the white and blue scales, shining in the moonlight. She still remembered that ride where they flew above the clouds and into the quiet night. Nothing but the wind around them and the light of the moon to guide them and the whispy sea of clouds reminding that there was a whole world below them but the space they occupied was theirs alone.

But time didn’t wait for anyone.

Not even promises.

Time was her constant companion as the seasons went by. Even throughout her schooling she stayed the same. Her hair remained the same although growing longer over the passage of time, but she maintained the ponytail she had during that summer. Chihiro made friends but it wasn’t the same. No one could get close to her, and she was fine with that. The distance between her and others wasn’t possible. Not like the way she and Haku had been.

Losing Haku left a hole in her heart and existence, unlike the friends she left behind when her family had moved that fateful summer.

A part of her stayed back, waiting for him to return.

The her that never returned from that place—her _selfish_ innocence.

However that didn’t stop her from returning one summer’s day each year to wait. Eventually she wondered if it was all but a dream. Deep down she knew it had happened; still the doubt lingered. It lingered so strongly that she began to put it into words.

Chihiro found that she had a lot of unsaid words to be written down, thoughts that had haunted her since that day, and wonders what had occurred.

She wrote them all down, as fast as her memories would allow her.

They were fading over time, despite being so prevailing at one time. Perhaps it was something that came with growing up and claiming adulthood. The child-like wonder all we’re blessed with until innocence was shattered.

 _Slipping_ —the memories were always slipping through her hands, even as she tried to write them down. Some she had to stretch the imagination to fill the spaces in-between. The gaps would only widen over the years. If left alone, Chihiro was sure they would all disappear like that one summer’s day like a dream.

Already she was forgetting.

**_The promise._ **

Her stolen name during that odd time of betwixt realms.

Those she befriended and how the time just blurred together. 

But she hadn’t forgotten the nightmares. 

Her parents turning into pigs. 

Her name and identity stolen by the bathhouse witch. 

_The laughter._

_The tears._

_The fury._

_The ache._

She missed it all. 

Like a perfect dream she would only be haunted by in remembrance. 

Her stories were her own as much as her experiences shaped her. They were a part of her and yet were not her entirely. But fabricated in order to fit the overall narrative. 

At some point, she had forgotten it happened to her and wasn’t a dream or story told to mischievous and stubborn children. 

Now, having written her story, it truly felt as though that was all the memory was—a dreamt bedtime story. 

Funny how life turned out. 

And now she had arrived to attend a gathering, one for her and her story. 

Initially she didn’t believe there would be that much of a crowd, and yet the meeting place had been stuffed full. People waited in line outside, and were quick to spot her. The sudden attention and spotlight was embarrassing. Chihiro gave them a sheepish smile and wave, as she scolded herself inward. 

_You’re a professional, so act like one._

The sudden thought made her chuckle, her younger self had faced the world in defiance and stubbornness. It was something she admired about the girl she had written about and had been once upon a time. But she also knew that girl reminded her of her flaws, the embarrassing ones. The ones that ended her up in that place in the first place. And yet, she was grateful. 

Growing up was, in a lot of ways, a trip and a half. 

Even now, Chihiro didn’t feel completely adult, although her age said otherwise. 

Before she knew it, Chihiro was sitting in front of a line. Eager faces, many holding the book of her heart in their hands, awaiting disappointment. Already the doubt were beginning to creep inside. 

_This was a mistake._

A hand on her shoulder jolted her back into reality as her agent flashed her a reassuring grin and wink while pointing out the signing pen she had chosen weeks prior. The white and blue motif granting Chihiro courage she needed. It had been one requirement she had always requested, the colours of blue and white to be with her whenever she went. Perhaps it was strange but her agent had obliged, saying the colour scheme was lovely and suited her. 

And now armed with those comforting colour duo, Chihiro took a deep breath before greeting the first guest. 

Acknowledgments went a long way. A smile and a nod, even a handshake or several along with signatures upon signatures galore. Some even requested a photo with her in passing. 

Then came the dreaded question she had hoped not to get. 

“So what happened to the dragon boy and the girl? Did they ever meet again, like they promised?” 

The child had asked with wide amber eyes, full of wonder and curiosity. Chihiro was reminded of what she could have been once upon a time before that time in the spirit world. The child couldn’t have been any younger than she was back then. 

Her hair was a messy storm of golden brown, freckles sprinkled heavily across her nose and cheeks, and a mischievous glint to accompany her unbridled curiosity—she stood peeking over the table at her, on her tippytoes. Her sundress displayed clouds, giving her an airy presence. 

“I apologize for Haru, my niece really loved your story and always wanted to know what came after.” 

Chihiro could only blink. 

The man, the child’s uncle, had spoken and crashed into her thoughts. Familiarity awash over her. It was like staring in a mirror of her childhood dream. 

Although now older than their first meeting, his hair was a stormy mess like his niece’s but had a devastating charm to it. He wore white clothing with an azure dragon-like designs along the edges. Those cerulean green eyes of fierce protectiveness, much like an eye of the storm, were on her. An intense gaze peering deep into her heart. Chihiro felt her heart be arrested, along with her breath and all doubt. 

_Ha…ku?_

“My apologizes, we’re holding up the line.” The child in his hands now protesting with intense struggles, clamouring for the answer even now. “It was very nice meeting you…Miss Ogino, was it?” 

“Oh, I…ummm…” 

_What are you doing? Chasing daydreams and ghosts of the past??? That’s not professional!_

“No, I’m sorry,” Chihiro began, chasing the troubling snippy thoughts from her head, “it’s just, you remind me of someone I knew once long ago…mister…?” 

“Oh my bad, it’s Nigihayami Kohaku, Haku for short.” He lingered, his niece almost subdued with interest. “And Haru, of course.” 

“Indeed,” Chihiro smiled down at Haru who responded with a dazzling freckled grin. 

“But you know,” he leaned in close causing her heart to skip a beat, “to answer Haru’s question, I’m sure they’d met again, one way or another.” 

He merely smiled back in kind as Haru scolded him for intruding. 

Chihiro, caught off guard, just stared at him—speechless. 

Then a gentle heartfelt smile broke across her face. 

“I believe that too.”


End file.
